


Of quick thinking and right decisions

by NandaWrites



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Rivalry, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Volleyball, Work Together or Die, alternative universe, just kidding, rivals to friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7843891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NandaWrites/pseuds/NandaWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Simon groaned. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew it was wrong, that he should try to get along with all his team mates or at least leave his feelings outside of the court so it wouldn’t affect their performance, but…</p><p>He really, really, really didn’t like Jace."</p><p>OR</p><p>The one in which Simon and Jace can't stand each other, in spite of being in the same team, so coach Luke is forced to intervene and make those two learn to work together by any means necessary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of quick thinking and right decisions

**Author's Note:**

> This was my gift for capstevierogers for the Tumblr 2016 Shadowhunters Summertime Fest, but with a twist! Since the exchange had a character limit, I ended up cutting it a bit to submit it there, so this is the "full" version, if you will. This was really challenging, because it was my first time writing Simon or Jace, but I had a great time with it and I really liked how it turned out and I hope you guys like it too.
> 
> If anyone wants to request something or just chat, you can find me on Tumblr at [nandawrites](http://www.nandawrites.tumblr.com).

Sneakers squeaking against the floor as they moved, the loud sound of leather balls colliding against hands and arms and then, hopefully, the ground, players shouting directions and requests one to another, the loud cheers and groans of success or failure, the shrill sound of the coach’s whistle and the booming voice of his commands, the far away but almost identical sounds of the girls training on the court on the far away corner of the gym, it all felt as much as home to Simon as his own bedroom at his house, all the sights and motions as familiar to him as his movie posters on his wall or his collection of games in the shelves.

The ball came flying from the other side of the net, but he didn’t need to worry about it just yet. As a setter, his job was to worry about the second movement and with putting the ball in the exact perfect place for one of their attackers to score, not with the defense. Besides, he was currently on the same team as Raphael, which was not only their captain but also the best libero Simon had ever seem so he had all the trust the ball would be saved and end up exactly in his hands.

It did. The pass came high and exactly above him. Now was when all the magic happened to Simon. His pulse quickened, his heart hammering in his chest and his mind racing as the adrenaline rush took over him. It was just a second, the space between two breaths and he had to think and act in that in that microscopic amount of time. Where were his players? Where was the ball? What were the positions of the players in the other team? Should he pass or try for a second ball? Should he go with the rehearsed play or his gut? Left or right? Where? Where?

This was what had made him fall in love with playing. Ever since he was a little boy, he had always enjoyed video games that required quick thinking, snap decisions, where that millisecond it took you to decide if you would move left or right, jump or shoot and then acted on it made all the difference. Make the right decisions and you win. Make the wrong ones and it’s game over.

Simon had become very good at making the right decisions.

Still, he would never have thought of using that ability for something athletic (unless you were counting mathletics or video game championships as athletics, which to be honest, not even he was) if it wasn’t for his best friend Clary.

They had been friends even before they could walk, living in the same street, going to the same preschool. They had always done everything together and had always been there for each other through everything. So, of course, when Clary decided she wanted to take on her mother and step father’s path and become a volleyball player, she turned on to Simon to help her train in her backyard after class, as she wanted to at least get the basics right before going to them.

“You know volleyball is a sport and I am a nerd, right?” he had asked her. “Sports and nerds don’t mix well, Clary, I won’t be able to help much.”

She rolled her eyes at him and laughed. “Well, after playing video games all day, you probably have wicked eye-hand coordination skills. Come on, let’s play. You can set for me.”

Be it because of video games or not, he did end up having amazing eye-hand coordination skills. He also ended up liking volley way more than he thought he would. That thrill he got when he played videogames was present and multiplied by a thousand in the real life. Over and over and over. It was intoxicating. He loved it and he was _good_ at it.

He made it into the school’s team, he helped them break a record of consecutive winnings for the school, then he got a sport’s scholarship for the university in which Luke was a coach on so he could keep playing as he studied there (the man swore to him under death penalty he had had nothing to do with it). Clary had gotten in as well and it seemed like his life couldn’t get more perfect. Now, on their second year, he was main setter, respected by his team mates and he knew exactly what to do.

The ball touched his fingers and he turned left in time to see Magnus’ and Ragnor’s feet leave the ground one after the other, the two friends’ movements so in sync after years of playing together it was crazy. He knew the plan, Magnus would serve as decoy to attract the defense while the ball would really go to Ragnor, but then… Raj had clearly caught on to their scheme, he would block them and he wouldn’t be back from the air in time to catch it. Damn! What now? The sound of another pair of feet leaving the ground got to him and he made up his mind. He arched back and the ball shot up from his hands and behind him without him even looking. He closed his eyes, hoping he had gotten it right, and was rewarded by the loud thud of the ball hitting the floor on the other side of the court and Alec’s cheer behind him.

The whistle sounded again, validating the point, and Simon joined Alec in his cheering as they all gathered in a group hug. It was the final point and even in a practice match against his own team mates, it felt good to win.

He lifted his head and caught sight of Clary on the other side of the gym looking at him so he lifted two thumbs up and smiled, prompting her to repeat the gesture before turning back to where her captain, Lydia, and coach Hodge were giving them all some performance tips.

He was having a really good day, so, of course, it was bound to take a turn to the shitty side sooner or later. And it came with another whistle from the coach to catch their attention and Luke’s following command as they drank water and dried their faces with the towels:

“Alright guys, good game! Now switch it up for next practice. Magnus, Alec, over there. Raj, Jace, come to this side.”

Simon groaned. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew it was wrong, that he should try to get along with all his team mates or at least leave his feelings outside of the court so it wouldn’t affect their performance, but…

He really, really, _really_ didn’t like Jace.

It had started from the first time he had laid eyes on the boy. It was the first day of training on his second year, which meant audition day to all the teams to fill up the holes left from the students that had graduated or decided to quit, and things had been going fine in spite of Simon’s nerves for it being his first day as main setter. And then the doors to the gym had literally been barged open and in came three of the most gorgeous people Simon had ever seen in his life.

Unfortunately, the one leading them was Jace Wayland, looking every bit as if he thought he owned the whole place and every person in it. Behind him came two dark haired students Simon would later learn were the Lightwood siblings, Alec and Isabelle. Alec at least had the decency to look vexed at his friend’s antics, and Isabelle, even though she was laughing and looked as confident and in control as Jace, didn’t have the air of arrogance and cockiness the blonde carried, his smug grin making clear he thought he was better than everyone there.

Simon hated him at first sight, with a sudden and burning passion. He hated him even more for the way he had talked to captain Raphael and coach Luke as if he owned the place. Hated him even more when he saw the boy’s eyes following Clary from across the gym after the girl that had been with him had went to her side.  
He wished with fervor none of them made it through the team so he would never have to risk seeing the blond guy again. Unfortunately, they all did, which made the Lightwoods and Captain America wannabe Jace Wayland officially a part of Simon’s life.

Training with Jace was every bit the hell Simon had thought it would be. As a setter, it was his job to get into balance with all the players, to know their times, their speed and strength and making sure they knew his in return, to synchronize with them, to ensure when he set the ball it would be in the perfect height, place and speed for the attackers to reach it and put it down on the other side of the net.

It took a lot of work and a good deal of trust between the team members, but when they reached it, it was amazing. Now he could practically _feel_ the moment Magnus’ feet left the ground and he just _knew_ where exactly to set the ball for Ragnor even when he did it behind his back. He had even managed to connect with Alec rather quickly in the court, though out of it was still another story. But with Jace…

Simon couldn’t stand him. At all. He was cocky, narcissistic, sarcastic, rude, he took risky moves and acted as if he was the best player to ever set foot in a volleyball ever since the sport was invented – and the worst part was that he might as well be, the guy was amazing, but Simon would never admit that. And no matter how much he tried to leave his ill feelings for the other outside of practice, he couldn’t, and as Jace didn’t look any more inclined to cease their animosity than he was, their practices together tended to go from awful to worse.

Their timing was wrong, they never agreed on the play, they were so out of sync they might as well be playing for different teams from how good they did, Jace kept trying to impose his own pace on the game and Simon would always oppose him, if he had the choice (which he often did) he would set for anyone aside from Jace, and even when he did set for him, the ball never seemed to reach his hand, always being too forward or late, too high or too low.

They had interrupted practice in the middle to argue with each other more times than he could count, which would always result in a punishment and a very harsh scolding from Raphael and coach Luke to both of them. He had already gotten more warning shots in one month of practice with Jace than in his whole first year, and as much as he knew he was being ridiculous and was scared of the very real possibility of being suspended from the team, he seemed unable to stop.

Needless to say, he wasn’t very happy he had ended up in the same team as Jace that day. Luke was always switching up and mixing the teams so everyone learned how to play with everyone so it wasn’t often they did play together, but he seemed to be matching them more and more often lately, perhaps hoping it would eventually force them to get along.

So far it hadn’t worked.

Jace looked smugly at Simon as he took his place in the court and the boy glared at him in return. Well, this would be fun.

With the sound of the whistle, the next game started, and as always, Simon tried to keep from sending balls to Jace as much as possible. Whenever he didn’t have other choice, they ended up completely missing the time and their arguments kept getting more and more heated as Luke boomed for them to get it together. And then, it happened:

Magnus blocked Ragnor’s attack but the boy somehow still managed to bump the ball up to Simon, though it cost him his balance, Jace called for the pass and with no other choice Simon turned midair and set the ball for him.

The ball went straight above the line of the net, and Jace slammed face first on it.

Simon’s first reaction was to laugh, together with every other member of the team (what? It wasn’t every day that you saw someone hitting the net face first, Simon hadn’t seem something like that since he was ten), but when Jace’s murderous gaze turned towards him, he very seriously considered to flee.

“Hey, Lewis, what’s the big idea, huh?!”

The other had walked towards him, crowding on Simon’s personal space, trying to intimidate him, and just like that, the fight instinct got over the flight one.

“What? Get off, Wayland, I didn’t do anything, you slammed on that net all on your own.”

“Like hell I did! You put the ball over the net, how do you expect me to reach that? You did that on purpose!”

“Ohh, I am sorry, is wonder boy Wayland unable to play unless the ball goes exactly into his hand?”

Simon knew he was being ridiculous. It _was_ his fault when the ball didn’t go where it was supposed to and he normally owned up to it. This was how easily Jace got under his skin. By now the other players were gathering close, and Alec walked forward to put a hand in his friend’s arm.

“Jace, come on, let it go…”

“No.” Jace pulled his arm away. “This loser keeps sabotaging me since I got in the team, what’s your problem, huh?”

Simon didn’t know what possessed him then, instead of answering, he smiled and said: “That is a four syllable word for any thought too big for little minds.”

The smugness out of his clever quote vanished when Jace pushed him hard in the chest, almost sending him to the floor. Simon saw red, but when he took one step to push Jace right back two things happened: Someone grabbed him by the back of his uniform and pulled him back harshly. And a loud whistle sounded.  
Simon caught himself looking back on the angry face of Raphael, and behind him Luke walking towards them and looking more furious than Simon had ever seen him and it was then that it dawned on him:

He had fucked up.

Royally.

“Luke…”, he started, but the coach raised his hand to stop him.

“Everyone, with me.”

He waited just a second until the two were in front of him, before starting his onslaught:

“Alright you guys, I was saving this for the end of the practice but you’d better hear it now. I have scheduled for us a practice match against the Circle team, I think everyone that was here last year remembers them very well?”

It was more an affirmation than a question. Luke knew they wouldn’t forget. The Circle team led by Valentine Morgenstern had been their biggest rival during last year’s championships and had not only snatched the first place from them, but also crushed them right on their own home. It was a bitter defeat they wouldn’t forget so early, and now they had a practice match so soon in the year? And with them? Had Luke gotten crazy?

“You think the way we are right now we can stand up against Valentine and his team? You guys think we stand a chance when we can’t even get our own players working as a team for five seconds? What do you have to say for yourselves? Simon? Huh, Jace, you think you can stand up to Valentine like that?” He waited until the feeling of shame settled in and continued. “I don’t care what goes on outside of this gym, but inside these walls and specially inside that damn white line on the floor, you are teammates, you are friends, you are brothers, and you _will_ act accordingly, or at the very least you are gonna act your age. Bickering? Starting fights? Pushing? What are you, five? The enemy is on the other side of the net, not beside you, and if you two don’t get that, then I’ll make you get it!” He stopped for a second to breath, and then pointed at the two boys. “You two, are going to stay after hours training passes and I don’t care if it will take the whole weekend, but neither of you are going to set foot outside of this gym until you learn to work together, are we clear?”

Simon couldn’t believe this was happening. This was a nightmare! And so not fair! He thought Luke liked him, how could he betray him like that? He started complaining at the same time Jace did, but the coach quickly shut them up with a harsh stare.

“Are. We. Clear?”

As a last resort, Simon glanced back at Raphael, searching for any kind of support, but the captain just shrugged, clearly thinking Simon had brought it on himself, so he let his head drop back to the front and murmured a “Yes, Coach.”

“Good. Now everyone, I don’t want to hear about anyone staying around to bother or help them, don’t even try, Alec, so let’s go hit the showers and have a nice weekend. Great practice today! Simon, Jace, you know what to do.”

With a last leveled look, Luke harbored the rest of the team to the showers until Simon and Jace were alone. When the door closed behind them with a final ‘thud’, Simon finally gathered the courage to look back at Jace, that now had his arms crossed and was looking at Simon as if he was imagining cutting him in half with a flaming sword.

It would be a long night.

 

  
It was two hours later and Simon was lying on the bleachers on the other side of the court as Jace trained attacks and spikes against the opposite wall. He hadn’t bothered the other boy yet, because 1- he reserved himself the right to manly brood over the whole thing for a while too and 2- it was clear Jace would easily replace that ball with his face if he tried and Simon would much prefer to remain in one piece. But now the boredom had won over his sulking so he spoke up:

“Hey, shouldn’t we at least be trying to do what Luke said?”

A short and acid ‘no’ was his only answer, and he snorted. Typical. Jace would remain on his high throne and make absolutely no effort to acknowledge he was a major ass and try to solve the issue. Sometimes being the bigger man sucked.

“I don’t know you, but I would like to get out of here sometime. Preferably tonight. This building might be sturdy enough to survive a zombie apocalypse, but it’s lacking a lot in provisions and good company.”

Jace held the ball and turned back at him, and even from that distance Simon could see in the other’s face he found him immensely obtuse and annoying.

“What. Are you even talking about?”

“Zombie apocalypses always start in the schools, that’s common knowledge. And if it begins tonight I’d rather not be stuck in here with you forever so can’t we just get this over with so we can both go home and face the apocalypse in better company?”

Jace’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightly. “That’s amazing, you know a whole lot of words, but when you put them together they don’t make the slightest sense. If we start training, will it shut you up? But if you throw that ball over the net again, it will end up down your throat, just a warning.”

Simon rolled his eyes, but decided to keep quiet and just get into position. He really hoped God was watching this right now because if putting up with Jace didn’t guarantee him a passage straight to heaven, nothing would.

The first try was a disaster, and the second, and third, and all the ones that followed. Jace was always too forward, ordering Simon to go faster, and even when the boy convinced him to try and slow down, then he was too slow. The passes were too high, or too low. So far, the rare tries that did end up in Jace’s hand went straight off side or in the net. They both kept arguing the other should follow their pace and refused to budge, until Jace’s patience reached its limit and he really threw the ball at Simon’s head, that managed to duck and shot the other a “what the hell?!”

“What the hell you. Stop sabotaging me. It’s so clear you are doing it on purpose for me to get it wrong, it’s pathetic.”

“What? Let me give you some news that might shock you: the world doesn’t revolve around you, specially not my world, why would I even want to sabotage you, you are on my team!”

Jace just shrugged. “Obviously it’s because you are jealous of me because I’m better than you and more handsome, so you want me gone. Too bad I ain’t going anywhere.” He sounded completely serious and Simon was shocked.

“Wow, what did I just say about the world not spinning around you? I don’t care about you, we don’t even play the same position. And you are not better than me just because you are rich and spoiled and thinks the whole world belongs to you. I bet you only made it to the team because your parents paid for it, asshole.”

“My parents are dead.”

It was a simple sentence, said so calmly and emotionless, and so not what Simon was expecting, that it made his brain stop for a second, all he thought he knew about Jace tilting out of place.

“What?”, he asked, dumbly.

“My parents didn’t pay for me to join the team, because they are dead. Are you deaf aside from stupid?”

The words were harsh, but Simon recognized the look behind Jace’s eyes: he was hurt, but he didn’t want pity, and he would easily end Simon if he detected even a hint of it. He couldn’t say he didn’t know how that was like, so he replied the only way he could.

“My dad died when I was six.”

He saw Jace’s eyes widen for a second, a flash of recognition, before they narrowed again and he snorted. “Only one? Aren’t you lucky? Shut up and let’s go back to training.”

It was clear he didn’t want to talk anymore, but a memory had appeared in Simon’s mind, and a sudden bout of realization came with it, so he said: “Luke calling you out on wanting to surpass Valentine earlier today. He addressed you specifically, does that have anything to do with that?”

Jace looked like he would rather nail Simon to the wall with very sharp needles than to say anything, but he seemed to notice Simon wouldn’t let it go so he groaned. “Valentine adopted me out of foster care, raised me, got me into volley, made me the best player on Earth, was a major douchebag, so I got emancipated and now live with the Lightwoods and I want to prove him I can win on my own. End of story. Are we done with the therapy session now?”

Simon mulled the new information over for a second. That... Was certainly something he would have to look more into later. But for now, he had a decision to make: what he would do with the information Jace gave him? What would that change? Would it even change anything between them? How he would react? Jace was looking at him and looking angrier by the second so he had to think quick.

Fortunately, Simon was really good with quick decisions.

“Well, but you can’t.”

All the nasty looks Jace had given him so far that night didn’t come close to the one he sent him now. “ _What?_ ”

“You can’t win on your own. This is a team sport; you need all of us to win. You don’t have to and you can’t put things all on your shoulders and expect us to get on with it with no explanation or to stay out of your way, we are your team, it’s our job to help you with that. We all already want to beat Valentine and his Circle anyway, helping you out will be just another thing to motivate us. You need us. You need _me_ , because whether you like it or not, I am the best setter we have. But you will have to trust me, and my game, or nothing of this will work and we will both lose.”

The other looked impassive for a long moment, and Simon worried he had perhaps said the wrong thing. Coming up with a decision for sure things like game plans was easy, but people were complex – even Jace, apparently, who would have thought? – and a lot of things were at stake when it came to dealing with them, so maybe he had assessed the situation wrong now, precisely when he needed it most, damn… Then Jace spoke up:

“You are full of shit, did you know that?” He still sounded impassive, and Simon was sure he had miscalculated that time, but then he continued: “Quick up your pass by a second, time it with when I give my first step, I’ll meet you half way.”

With that he went back to position and Simon, after looking stunned for a moment, followed. He signaled for Jace to begin his movement and followed what he had said, going a little faster than his usual pace, keeping an eye on Jace’s movements, the ball went up…

And Jace shot it straight down on the other side of the net. The movement synchronizing perfectly for the first time. Simon cheered and he could swear he had seem Jace smile out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to give him a high five, the boy only scoffed at him.

“What are you celebrating for? That was one time, how can I know if you didn’t do it out of sheer dumb luck? Let’s go again, we won’t stop until you have managed to get it right ten times.”

He rolled his eyes at that. Typical. Well, it’s not like he expected just a small talk would magically set things right between them, Jace was still more annoying than anyone had the right to be and Simon still didn’t like him, but, well… It was a start.

“By the time we are over, Valentine won’t know what hit him,” he promised, as he went to fetch another ball.

This time he was sure he saw Jace smile.


End file.
